‘The Exorcist’ Pilot Finds Its Director, Rupert Wyatt

FOX’s planned reboot of ‘The Exorcist’ as an ongoing TV series is moving forward rapidly, landing a high profile director in Rupert Wyatt, who previously helmed ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ and the Mark Wahlberg drama ‘The Gambler’. Wyatt will direct the one hour pilot based on a script by ‘Fantastic Four’ screenwriter Jeremy Slater. Wyatt previously directed the pilot to AMC’s historical drama ‘Turn: Washington’s Spies’.

The TV version is described as:

“A propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession, and confronting the face of true evil.”

When ‘The Exorcist’ came out in 1973, it was a groundbreaking film that even to this day stands as one of the scariest horror films in history. It is also the 9th highest grossing movie of all time, when adjusted for inflation. The original was directed by William Friedman, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty. Unfortunately, since then, the subject of demonic possession has been co-opted by countless films and TV shows– including several official sequels and prequels– most quite inferior in quality. Just last year, Destination America aired the live reality show ‘Exorcism LIVE!’ In 2012, an earlier version of a TV adaptation was shopped around, but never came to fruition.

Once completed, FOX will determine whether they will order the pilot to series for the fall. If it does, this show could make a nice companion to ‘The X-Files’ which is scoring excellent ratings in its current limited series event, which could lead to FOX ordering it as an ongoing series.

Are you intrigued at the thought of a series based on ‘The Exorcist’? Will it be a good fit for FOX?

Jax Motes

Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.